Monday, April 5, 2010

This Saturday, DC SCORES students from elementary schools in the Columbia Heights area and Lincoln Middle School as well as program alumni will participate in a special event -- a free soccer clinic.

The 4-H Health Rocks Soccer Clinic, hosted by the University of District of Columbia along with DC SCORES, will be led by a collection of college soccer players from the greater DC area. The event, scheduled for 2-5 p.m. at Tubman Elementary School, will feature players from not one, not two, but seven local schools.

Yep, that's right -- players from Georgetown (5), Maryland (4), Howard (5), American (4), Montgomery College (5 or more), UDC (12) and George Washington (7) will be on hand to teach the current and past DC SCORES participants all about the game of soccer. They will be joined by at least one coach from each school, so you can imagine all the attention participants will receive.

"Not only will the youth learn soccer skills from the college athletes that they can use in the future, but they will also learn how to work as a team toward a common goal," said 4-H project assistant Diego Lahaye.

The University of the District of Columbia, Cooperative Extension Service, 4-H and the Center for Youth Development work together to provide "services to the youth in our community and schools in the District," according to Lahaye.

"Health Rocks is a program that promotes healthy living for youth ages 8 to 14 years old, with the goal of bringing youth, families and communities together to reduce the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs."

The clinic will also involve a component on healthy lifestyles, such as eating right and staying drug-free. And the afternoon at Tubman will include free food and giveaways for participants.

"We want to see the young athletes learn important information on how to live healthy lifestyles," Lahaye said. "Through sports such as soccer, we believe that this will provide our youth with better alternatives that will improve the lifestyles (youth lead)."

As an added bonus to the day, any SCORES participant who attends has the option of attending that night's Washington Freedom game at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds. We'll have a bus to transport those interested.